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Tuesday, May 01, 2012

ROY HODGSON TO TO TAKE OVER AS ENGLISH COACH AND TO OVERSEER WEST BROM TWO LAST GAMES

Roy Hodgson will perform a dual role
until the end of the season, planning for England’s European
Championship campaign while overseeing West Bromwich Albion’s final two
Premier League games.

Amicable
negotiations between the Football Association and West Bromwich mean

Stuart Pearce, the GB Olympics team coach and England Under 21 manager,
will not have to name the 23-man squad for Euro 2012 as well.

Instead
Hodgson will combine his West Bromwich duties with getting to work on
selecting the players he wants to take to Krakow on June 6.

Hodgson’s appointment as Fabio
Capello’s successor was all but rubber-stamped in a four-hour meeting
at Wembley yesterday, and last night he was ironing out the details of
his FA contract with his agent, Leon Angel.

Negotiations, described by the FA as
‘positive and on track’, were expected to be wrapped up this morning
with the governing body hoping to hold a press conference at Wembley on
Tuesday.

They have even agreed timings for
interviews with Hodgson and Sir Trevor Brooking for their in-house TV
channel, due to be broadcast at 2pm.

Hodgson’s contract is expected to be
worth around £3million a year plus bonuses — around half the salary
Capello received but a significant increase on what Hodgson was earning
at the Hawthorns.

Meanwhile, Birmingham manager Chris Hughton was thought to be the preferred successor to Hodgson at the Hawthorns.